Q: I read where the new Orion space capsule was successfully launched on top of a Delta 4 rocket. The same article said that the Orion capsule would be launched on top of a new SLS mega rocket. How much bigger and powerful will this rocket be compared to the old Saturn 5 rockets that were used in the moon launches?
—William McKee Jr., Flowery Branch
A: The initial configuration for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is 320 feet long, compared to 363 feet for the Saturn 5, which was used to send astronauts to the moon from 1967 to 1973. The SLS engines use solid fuel, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen and have 8.4 million pounds of thrust. The Saturn 5 used kerosene, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and had 7.5 million pounds of thrust, according to space.com.
Future configurations of the SLS could increase the length of the rocket to 400 feet and provide up to 9.2 million pounds of thrust. The crew module is larger, with capacity for four astronauts, compared with three for the Saturn 5. NASA called the SLS the “world’s most powerful rocket” and hopes to use it to send astronauts “to an asteroid and eventually to Mars, while opening new possibilities for other payloads, including robotic scientific missions to places like Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.”
The program is expected to cost $7 billion from 2014 through November 2018, when the rocket’s first test flight – without a crew — is expected to take place.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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